


Baby Steps

by CommanderInChief



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-05 02:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10295801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommanderInChief/pseuds/CommanderInChief
Summary: Because domestic bliss can only go so far when you have a name to uphold.An introspection.





	

With stumbling fingers, Kate slid her key into the door just as the heavens racked another gust of bitter air against her thin coat. Her thin,  _ fabric  _ coat. The rain had long since soaked through, clinging to the sodden shirt and jeans underneath. Even her bones seemed to shiver. 

 

She pulled her coat tighter. 

 

After the usual routine of wiggling the key where it didn’t  _ quite  _ fit the lock, it clicked open, leaving her to step inside and slam the door to the downpour behind her. 

 

Still numb although no longer shivering, Kate allowed herself a moment to lean against the scalding heat of the radiator and  _ breathe _ . 

 

It wasn’t long before she was joined by Osgood, cat in one arm, paperback wedged open in the other. And, the blonde’s surprise, the latter didn’t have so much as a hoverboard on the front cover. 

 

“Bad day, huh?” asked the younger woman, before placing a chaste kiss on her girlfriend’s lips. She could taste the cold rainwater. 

 

“No, just a long one. I don’t suppose you could pop the kettle on for me whist I go and get changed. Haven’t had a decent cuppa all day,”  

 

She held the hand holding the book out to Kate “If you could go and put a bookmark in this - I don’t think R2-D2 would appreciate me using his tail again,” 

 

Rolling her eyes, Kate took the paperback and, after a quick glance at the cover, headed off toward their bedroom. There was nothing she wanted more than to peel off the layers of damp clothes and curl up under a blanket until her skin felt like it belonged to her again. 

 

She glanced back over her shoulder as she opened the door, catching a glance of her girlfriend muttering something to their ridiculously named cat as if he were a baby. The yellow street-lamp light that flooded in through the cracks in the curtains reflected gold against a backdrop of thick brown hair. She didn’t have to see her face to feel the smile that’d settled on her lips. 

 

_ Well, almost nothing.  _

 

\---

 

“So, how was your blind ‘ _ date _ ’?” Asked Kate later, when they’d both had a chance to thaw. Wrapped up in thick pajamas and dressing gowns at least two sizes too big, they’d curled up together on the sofa, Osgood’s head resting in Kate’s lap.

 

The brunette scrunched up her nose. Her laboured sigh was just about audible. “Well… He was older than I thought he was going to be. I think mum’s decided that drastic times call for drastic measures. I wouldn’t mind if he didn’t spend half of the date talking about his car,” 

 

Kate gave a light laugh “Well, that’s men for you, I suppose. Could be worse, though, when Charlotte was a teenager she seemed to go out on a mission to set me up with her friends’ dad’s,” Her fingers caught on a knot in Osgood’s hair. She paused for a moment to ease it smooth “Not all of them were even single. I hate to think what she would’ve been like if she knew I was open to the other side of the market,” 

 

“A lot more bisexual mums, probably,” 

 

She cocked her eyebrows, putting on her best  _ Oh-really-now?  _ Expression. As a mother of two, it was well-practiced “And what are you after?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” 

 

Slender fingers dipped down to trace over the pulse-point, exposed on her neck. They earned a gentle shudder in response. “Are you quite sure about that, Osgood?” Something of a smile drove up the corner of her mouth as her hand moved back up to hold the other woman’s face. Her thumb brushed the corner of full pink lips.

 

“There is… something, I suppose. Something I’ve been meaning to ask for a while, actually,”

 

“Go on,” she said, twisting Osgood’s top shirt button between her finger and thumb. 

 

In another universe, she might’ve squirmed in her lover’s lap, perhaps taken hostage a few shirt buttons of her own before letting wandering hands speak for her. It wouldn’t have been the first time that she’d snogged that smug look right off of her face. 

 

But, after losing three hours to a one-man take on top-gear, her feet were planted firmly in their own dimension. No more putting it off - even if procrastination  _ did  _ come in the form of Kate in a slightly-too-short nightie.

 

_ Focus _ .

 

She swallowed, forcing her eyes up to meet the soft stare that’d been observing her.  

 

“I wish it could always be like this,” 

“Why-” Something unfamiliar blipped over the blonde’s features.  _ Concern? Worry? Confusion?  _ “Why can’t it be? I mean, I’m not going to cop off with someone else, if that’s what you’re worried about,” 

 

“I know - it’s just- I mean-” 

 

Kate’s fingers froze. Then, like a hunter backing away from a lion, she took back the hand that’d carelessly rested on Osgood’s chest “Osgood, if you’re not happy, we  _ can _ talk about it. Whether you want to take it slower or -”

 

She was cut short before the silence could leak into the atmosphere. “No, this, this is  _ perfect _ . I just wish we could be a  _ proper couple _ . I love you, Kate, and I’m tired of having to introduce you as my boss or a friend from work,” 

 

Osgood watched as Kate ground her jaw, grey eyes dulling as they settled on some point on the other side on the living room. 

 

“Not whilst you’re still my assistant - it’s against the anti-fraternization rules, if nothing else,” 

 

“And who enforces that rule?”

 

“I’ve got to lead by example. I do love you, Osgood, but I can hardly go around sticking my tongue down your throat against the petri-dish washer when I’m supposed to be putting a stop to workplace relationships,” 

 

“Malcolm and Jac are a couple and you’ve never threatened to court-marshal them,”

 

“ _ Technically _ , I don’t know about that,” 

 

“Rubbish. You don’t care about the rule-book any more than the rest of us do - and you’d hardly be snogging me around the lab,”  _ Not that I’d mind _ , added Osgood internally “There’s something else that’s scaring you, isn’t there?” 

 

The blonde’s expression remained as distant as it’d been a few seconds previous. 

 

“Just give me time.” 

 

And Osgood did. Time when her mum asked if she had anyone special. Time she scrolled through her friends shouting their happiness from the rooftops on Facebook. Time when she sat at the table, alone, during the reception of her sister’s wedding. 

 

Of course, when she got home, there’d always be a glass of wine on the table and an apology in the form of ready lips and wandering hands. Breakfast in bed.  _ Another crap first date _ . A new Sci-Fi novel.  _ Your school best friend just got engaged _ . A replica of one of her dad’s old army jumpers.  _ I caught you glancing through the jewellry shop window. _

 

They existed in stolen kisses and knowing glances and hazy Sunday mornings. She was a child on the beach trying to carry a piece of the sea in her bare hands.  _ But, _ Osgood reflected in the minutes of morning grace before the alarm set the real world back into motion, _ it was enough _ .

 

Kate gave a low hum and she shuffled back down into the warmth of the duvet. 

  
_ It had to be _ . 


End file.
